It only took one shot for the No. 4 North Carolina women’s soccer team to advance to the ACC Championship, beating No. 24 N.C. State, 1-0 in Charleston, S.C., on Friday night.
What happened?
The offense was minimal, but the Tar Heels (14-2-2) played well enough to move past the Wolfpack (14-5-1) to continue their pursuit for a 22nd ACC Tournament title.
In the third minute of the game, sophomore Zoe Redei took an unsuccessful shot on goal that seemed to indicate offense would be plentiful. It turned out to be one of just four shots for the team in the half and the one of two shots on goal for North Carolina all game.
After the first half, the game continued to be back and forth with very few offensive opportunities to score. The Tar Heels took nine shots to the Wolfpack’s three and each team had four corners in the game. The team who could find a way to score would come out on top.
In the 56th minute, first-year Alessia Russo finally connected with her second shot of the game. She received a pass in the middle of the field and weaved through the defense until a window opened between two defenders. She launched with her right foot from 24 yards out with the goalie out of position and found the back right corner of the net. It would be the only goal scored, but it was enough.
Who stood out?
For her score, Russo stood out as a key player on Friday. The recently named First Team All-ACC player took four shots in 71 minutes, and scored her ninth goal of the season which became the highlight of the game.
It wasn’t a flawless effort, but the North Carolina defense also stood out as well. The starting backline of Taylor Otto, Julia Ashley, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Megan Buckingham allowed just two shots on goal for the team’s 10th clean sheet of the season.
